Mr. And Mrs. Smith

How many implausibilities and plot holes can you stick in one movie and still have it be enjoyable? Yes, I liked the movie. And I feel incredibly guilty about that.

This is a straightforward cross between "War Of The Roses" and "True Lies." Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are coifed and dressed to the nines. They go through the ridiculous action of the plot line with a knowing smirk and a wink for the audience at all times. There isn't a breath of reality to be found anywhere.

I must confess to a minority view of Angelina's supposed goddess status... her lips creep me out. But she honestly did look great in this movie (kudos to her hair stylist!), never wearing an outfit that left even a sixteenth of an inch of breathing room between the fabric and her skin. I loved the scene where she peels off a bullet proof vest/flak jacket that has supposedly been hiding under a sheer, form-fitting suit. Right. And Brad Pitt looked appropriately male model quality.

The action is too silly to recount in depth here. But the two stars have a lot of fun in their interplay (National Enquirer readers can put their own interpretation into that sentence). Vince Vaughn is incredibly wasted in a role written as a carbon copy of the Tom Arnold character in True Lies. It is a dull, witless part and he seemed embarrassed to have to go through the motions.

The action climaxes with an overlong gunfight sequence that quickly becomes boring, after which the executive committee in charge of production decided to throw up their hands and declare the movie over by completely writing off the central catalyst to the action and ignoring the central complication for the protagonists. I hate fantasies that violate their own internal logic, and this movie is a prime example. If any of you have seen this and want to send me a made-up explanation of how the leads overcome their dilemma before the "and they lived happily ever after" close, I would be fascinated to hear it.

There is probably some swearing in the movie, although it doesn't stand out in my memory among all the other noise and explosions going on. Lots of staged violence and one of the highest body counts in recent memory. Yet little blood or guts. It's an action movie fairy tale. Still, probably not good for impressionable youngsters. They might decide to try jumping off a building holding onto a clothesline.